Tommy Robinson says Elon Musk is paying his legal costs as trial begins
Source: The Guardian
Tommy Robinson says Elon Musk is paying his legal costs as trial begins
Far-right activist is accused of refusing to comply with counter-terrorism police request at Channel tunnel
Ben Quinn
Mon 13 Oct 2025 16.58 BST
Last modified on Mon 13 Oct 2025 20.35 BST
Tommy Robinson claimed Elon Musk was paying his legal costs, as he went on trial for refusing to comply with a request made by counter-terrorism police as he tried to leave Britain last year.
The far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, refused to give police the pin for his phone because it had “journalistic material on it” after they stopped him at the Channel tunnel on 28 July 2024, a court heard.
The activist had arrived alone at the Channel tunnel in a silver Bentley belonging to a friend and was on his way to the Spanish resort of Benidorm with more than £13,000 in a small bag, the first day of the trial at Westminster magistrates court heard.
The money was said to have been from a collection to offset the expenses from organising a major rally of Robinson’s supporters that took place the day before in Trafalgar Square. Robinson told police he was white English but was travelling on an Irish passport he had recently obtained and that he lived in Spain.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/13/tommy-robinson-says-elon-musk-is-paying-his-legal-costs-as-trial-begins